Romance and Rambunctious Play on Day 1 of #DisneySMMoms

11:38 PM

Yesterday was day 1 of the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration and Disney did not wasting any time making dreams come true and showering us with plenty of pixie dust! We had an amazing time and it still feels like a bit of a dream. It is hard to believe that I have been blessed enough to be part of this event and I am thanking my lucky stars for it. I wanted to share with you all a little bit of what I was able to experience.

Arrival:

We arrived at the Grand Floridian around 9am and checked in. We then headed over to the hospitality suite, were I was able to pick up our park tickets, itinerary, gift card and a few other treats, including some absolutely amazing swag! No one does swag like Disney. Some of my favorite items included a Disney Social Media Moms branded picnic bag and fleece blanket, everything was adorable and I will do a more thorough post on the swag later. After that, I snapped this photo of mom and the boys as we headed on the monorail to the Magic Kingdom.

After riding a few rides and soaking up plenty of magic on Main Street, we returned to the hotel so I could get ready to attend the Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings and Honeymoons Platinum Soiree! Sound fancy? That's because it was. Talk about breathtaking, some of the cakes and wedding gowns were to die for! We were treated to Minnie Wedding Ears, buttons, champagne and plenty of delicious candy, which helped me win the Mother of the Year award with my boys.

After some mingling outside the wedding pavilion, we headed inside to learn a bit more about Disney Weddings Platinum Anniversary. This year, Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings celebrates 20 years of helping make every princesses' wedding dreams come true. To date, they have coordinated weddings for 40,000 couples!

First up was Michael Shettell who has designed the Disney Fairy Tale Weddings Alfred Angelo Gown line. To say these dresses are gorgeous is an understatement. Michael went on to explain that a lot of thought went into the planning and designing of these gowns. In fact, he informed us, that when he was first coming up with ideas, he consulted with his 8 year old niece Lucy for ideas. The dresses are designed with glamour, sparkle and a pinch of magic and are designed specifically to reflect the personality of the princess that inspired it. Finally, the new Platinum Collection Cinderella Gown was revealed. I know ladies, you are all gasping right now. It's okay, so were we!

Next up, we got a look at what is ahead of Disney Weddings. There are two exciting additions ahead for you, both at land and at sea. Disney is now adding destination weddings in Hawaii in Oahu to their list of locations and ceremonies at sea aboard the Disney Dream or on Castaway Cay as well! The "Bring the Fairytale to Life" campaign was discussed. This campaign ties in with Disney's making memories campaign this year and deals with couples sharing their love stories. To express this campaign, we met Kristen and Greg who were the first couple to share their love story with this new campaign and who originally were married at the wedding pavilion and dreamed of one day renewing their vows there.

Carley Roney from The Knot and The Bump joined us to impart a bit of her professional wisdom. Mainly, that your audience is key and should be absolutely everything to you. If you make the audience your obsession and give them what they want, they will keep coming back. To be successful, you need to find a way to engage your audience and ignite their passion.

David Tutera from My Fair Wedding stopped by to explain that what every wedding couple should be trying to do is share their story with the guests at the wedding and if you want a unique or different wedding, think about what everyone else is doing and just don't do it. He even shared a little bit of a spoiler from episode 1 of his upcoming season. In this episode, he will be working with the Make a Wish Foundation to make a 17 year old boys' dream come true. The boy is from Topeka, Kansas and does not have long to live, his dream is to see his mom get married. I know, it brings you to tears right? David also shared that the trending color for the 2011-12 weddings is bright bold red!

At the end of the event, everyone was surprised when a flash mob broke out and a wedding party started to dance down the aisle. The bride followed and Kristen and Greg renewed their vows right there in front of us, complete with fireworks, Cinderella's Coach and a confetti cannon to send them on their way.

When the Platinum Soiree was over, we met back with our families to enjoy good food, great company and fun games on the shore of the beach next to the Grand Floridian. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

I could not have asked for a better first day full of memories that will last! I loved having the opportunity to experience the Grand Floridian as well as to meet all of the amazing ladies who are at this event with me!

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Kathleen is a homeschooling mom of four boys with a serious case of the Wanderlust bug. Her love of travel extends to her children, and has resulted in the family visiting 48 states to date, and traveling nearly a third of the year. She is the owner of LifeWith4Boys.com where you will find information on Family Travel, recipes, reviews, lifestyle and more.

Nobody holds an event like Disney. Everything Disney is done to the max! If I were to pick a destination wedding I think I would go to a Disney park or have some sort of Disney incorporation. It looks like you guys had so much fun and I especially loved all the wedding pictures!